Film Reviews

From time to time we will be offering our film reviews here...

Let's get one thing straight, despite having the same production team, Yimou Zhang's Hero is NOT a rehash of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, it's by far its superior. Based on a Chinese legend of the warlord... more

Being from the veteren writer / director of the David Bowie staring prisioner of war film 'Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence' Gohatto was always going to be a unique experience but watching Nagisa Oshima's film is like stepping... more

Based on the Kan Shimozawa novels the reluctant samurai Zatoichi is as much a cult figure in Japanese literature as Zoro or Robin Hood. Blind bone-setter Zatoicho wanders the countryside scraping a living using his acute sense of hearing to detect the roll of dice in gambling dens... more

Yimou Zhang’s stunning Hero was always going to be a tough film to follow but House Of Flying Daggers proves beyond doubt that China is at the forefront of the emerging Asian film world.... more

Set against the demise of the traditional samurai way of life writer, director Yoji Yamada’s Twilight Samurai is not to be compared to the over hyped over blown Hollywood nonsense of the Last Samurai... more

There are two types of martial arts films, the first, stylised almost superhuman-like utilising wires, stunt-doubles and visual effects, the second simply bypasses this and does it for real... more